A report released Wednesday by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) suggests that repression and human rights violations in Cuba have been maintained by Raul Castro’s government.

The document, titled “New Castro, Cuba Same Cuba” is the result of sixty interviews and more than forty reported cases of arrests for “social danger.”

This type of detention, legal under the Criminal Code of the country, provides that the government can arrest individuals before they commit a crime, under the suspicion that they are likely to commit some offense in the future.

According to HRW, the definition of “danger" is political and would classify “any behavior that contradicts Cuba’s socialist norms” as political.

“Cubans who dare to criticize the government live in constant fear, knowing they can end up in jail for merely expressing their opinions,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the director for the Americas of HRW.

According to the report, in addition to people detained without charges, the conditions of detention of political prisoners also violate human rights.

The paper cites several cases of detainees who have suffered violent abuse in prisons and extensive solitary confinement.

After three years in power, according to Vivanco, Raúl Castro has been as brutal as his brother.

Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raul at first on an interim basis in 2006 and afterwards on a permanent basis in February, 2008.

The report also cites the efforts of the United States government to press for a change in Cuban society, especially in connection with the embargo, but it insists that the embargo has not improved human rights in the country and has “isolated the United States and alienated potential allies in this matter.”

“Despite the new leadership in Washington and Havana,” the report says, “Cuba continues to put pressure on its dissidents, while the United States pursues the same failed policy of the embargo.”

The document recommends that Obama’s government seek an alliance with the European Union, Latin America and Canada to pressure Cuba to release all its political prisoners within six months. Once that is done, the United States should remove the embargo against the country.

“We believe the embargo has perpetuated repression and the current government in Cuba,” said Vivanco. “We believe that the only way to achieve improvements in Cuba is through international but adjusted multilateral pressure.”

If Raul Castro’s government does not follow through on a commitment to free its prisoners, the report says, members of the alliance should impose sanctions on the island. These measures should be significant enough to impact the Cuban government and be careful not to impose suffering on the Cuban people.